China wins women's gymnastics team world title, ending U.S. streak of seven golds New York Times (Online) Rebecca Tauber China won its first women's team title at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships since 2006, breaking the United States' streak of seven straight team world golds in a tight contest Wednesday in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The U.S. took silver, and Japan beat out France for bronze, its first world team medal since 1966. China took the lead from the U.S. on the backs of a field-leading beam rotation, led by Zhang Qingying's 15.066, the only gymnast to post a score above 15 in the entire women's competition so far. The U.S. brought a young team of mostly newcomers, who finished just 0.233 points behind China — halving their margin from qualification — but couldn't overcome its beam rotation, which included a fall from Dulcy Caylor. Caylor came in as the alternate for 2024 Olympian Hezly Rivera, who withdrew before the competition with an ankle injury. Russia, competing under a neutral flag because of the country's invasion of Ukraine, qualified in third but finished in sixth without three of its top gymnasts, who were denied visas by the Dutch government . Wednesday's competition featured strong moments for the U.S. — Skye Blakely and Claire Pease posted scores above 14 on vault and bars, both hit on beam in a high-pressure moment after Caylor's fall, and Charleigh Bullock improved her bars score from qualification by nearly half a point. But for the first time in years, China entered Wednesday's competition favored over the U.S., with deep rosters on bars and beam especially. Now, the team will look to Blakely and Pease on Friday to maintain a different streak: earning at least one medal in the all-around competition every year since 2003. Blakely will also compete in the vault, bars and beam finals, while Pease will compete in the vault and floor finals, along with Reese Esponda. The competition in Rotterdam is the first major test for the U.S. women's next generation — before Sunday, Pease, Esponda and Bullock had never competed on the world stage before. In less than two years, the race to represent the U.S. will look a lot different, with veterans like Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles planning comebacks to elite competition (Simone Biles has said she is still undecided ).